Acts chapter 12:20-24: V20-21:  Herod, ever the tyrant, has an unspecified dispute with ” the people of Tyre and Sidon”. They seek to make peace with him,through the intercession of one of his officials, being it seems dependent on his realm economically. V22:  Herod decides to address them in the full pomp of his office….

Acts chapter 12:16-19: V16:  Peter persists in knocking ( just as we should persist in prayer – Matthew 7:7-8.)  Finally they open to him, and are amazed to see him safe and well. Again, we are reminded how we can pray sincerely, believing in God’s power, yet not truly expect or anticipate the answer we…

Acts chapter 12:11-15: V11:  Peter comes to himself and finally realises that the Lord has acted to deliver him, and that this is real. The Lord still has work for him to do! V12:  He knows where the believers will be gathered, as indeed they are, praying for him, in the house of Mary, the…

Acts chapter 12:6-10: V6:  Peter is in prison, chained to 2 soldiers with others outside his cell door, yet peacefully asleep – surely the “peace which surpasses all ( human ) understanding.” ( Philippians 4:7.) Herod intends to bring him out, no doubt for execution, the next day. A hopeless situation? No, Peter is safe in the…

Acts chapter 12:1-5: V1:  We learn of further persecution of the believers in Judea, instigated by King Herod. This is Herod Agrippa 1, the nephew of the Herod who murdered John the Baptist and consented to the death of Christ. He was characteristic of the whole corrupt Herodian line. V2:  He has James, the brother of…

Acts chapter 11:27-30: V27:  The NT speaks of the gift of prophecy in the early church. Sometimes the term refers to declaring God’s Word with God-given Authority, in Holy Spirit power, but sometimes, as here a God-given revelation of things to come. In this sense, we would hold, with many Bible teachers, that the gift was…

Acts chapter 11:22-26: V22:  The report of this reaches Jerusalem. It is not completely clear if this is after Peter’s statement in the earlier verses, perhaps, but the Apostles send a trusted man to Antioch, to see what is happening there and if it is indeed of God. Surely it is significant that the man…

Acts chapter 11:19-21: V19:  The record now returns to how God so remarkably brought about the wider spread of the gospel, as believers who were scattered from Jerusalem and Judea by the persecution after Stephen’s death took the message wherever they went. ( See ch8 v4.) Even in ” Gentile territory”, to start with they still address…

Acts chapter 11:11-18: V11-12:  Continuing his account, Peter tells them how the men from Cornelius arrived at such a significant time, and how the Holy Spirit directed him to go with them without any doubts – for God was  clearly removing the old distinction between Jew and Gentile. ( See Ephesians 2:14-16.) Also, how Jewish…

Acts chapter 11:1-10: V1:  The news of what has happened to Cornelius and his Gentile household reaches the Apostles and the Jewish believers in Jerusalem/Judea. V2-3:  When Peter returns to them, he is immediately criticised by ” the circumcision party”. Are these true believers, or Jews on the fringes of the church? Probably here believers…